


He Truly Loves Her

by julemmaes



Category: Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, fake dating au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:14:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29897520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julemmaes/pseuds/julemmaes
Summary: Rowan and Aelin should have known that fake dating never goes according to plan.
Relationships: Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien & Rowan Whitethorn, Aelin Ashryver Galathynius | Celaena Sardothien/Rowan Whitethorn
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter was already posted in the Multifandom October Fest, but many asked for a second part, so if you've already read that, just skip to the second:)  
> Enjoy!

Elide was watching Lysandra desperately trying to get Aelin away from the bar.

She and Nehemiah had sidelined with Lorcan when the songs had become too slow for them to keep on going and now couples on couples were swinging like a herd of dying cows.

Elide laughed at her own thought, only slightly drunk. Lorcan looked at her confusedly, arching an eyebrow, "What are you laughing at?" he asked her by putting his arm around her hips and pulling her to his side. Nehemiah looked at them with affection and Elide winked at her, smiling slyly.

She turned towards her boyfriend, taking his nose between two fingers. Lorcan moved until he was free from her grip, and squeezed her wrists to hold her still while she giggled. Elide knew full well how much Lorcan loved the drunk her.

"Nothing, I like that you and I are not cows." the boy burst out laughing, asking her what he was babbling about, but Elide was no longer watching him. Her attention was once again captured by Aelin and Lysandra.

Nehemiah squeezed in her shoulders next to Elide, "I feel so sorry for her." she murmured as Alein struggled to stand on those heels, then her expression got sour, "And I'd really like to talk to him about what an asshole he is."

Elide's gaze shifted to the center of the improvised dance floor in Dorian's house, where an equal slightly drunk Rowan was dancing with a girl they all knew very well.

Lyria Ballard had been with Rowan for more than four years. They had met at the end of high school and had been together all through college, making everyone believe that once they were out of school they would live together in one of those mansions you see on TV, with a perfect, large, happy family. No one would have expected that once back from summer vacation they would announce their breakup.

It hadn't been difficult to keep the group together, Lyria had moved to another state shortly afterwards and Rowan had met other people, including Aelin.

The blonde girl had been a thunderbolt for the boy and a burst of life for the whole group. She had brought so many new people into their small circle that sometimes Elide forgot how many they really were.

"Maybe I should go talk to him, this story is getting too complicated," said Lorcan interrupting her thoughts.

She shook her head, "Ae asked us not to say anything and we will do so. Rowan will realize the mistake he is making on his own."

In front of Lorcan's upset but determined face, Nehemiah added, "We mean it Lor, Aelin says that if he doesn't realize it himself, it's not worth it. If he really has any feelings beyond friendship for her, he should act of his own, not because a friend of his has pointed it out."

Lorcan turned to her at that point, "So should we just stand here and watch while those two destroy each other?"

Elide was inclined to support his point of view, but she took his hand squeezing it, "Aelin asked us not to interfere and we won't."

Nehemiah sighed next to her and then they fell silent again, watching Rowan laughing at something the girl in his arms had just told him.

When Lyria had returned it had been embarrassing to say the least.

Aelin and Rowan had never been together and there had been a long period, at the beginning of their friendship, when they couldn't stand each other for more than two minutes before one of them lashed out and started to insult the other badly, but once they got over that cliff, they started acting like an old married couple.

Elide still remembered when Fenrys had gone to her completely euphoric and gave her a speech about how he had never seen Rowan so happy with anyone, not even Lyria.

So when she had come back from Hybern only a few months later with the intention of staying in Adarlan forever and Rowan had proposed to Aelin that she pretend to be his girlfriend on some occasion to make Lyria jealous, the few who knew about it were shocked.

And they were even more shocked when Aelin had accepted the deal, saying that she, too, could use this to make one of the guys in her class, Sam Cortland, jealous.

Elide had read enough books to know where the bullshit was going.

Manon approached the trio with a clever smile on her face and patted Elide on the shoulder before asking, "What are you looking at? You guys all look like creeps."

When no one answered, she frowned, following the gaze of her friends to the massive figure of Rowan, "Ah, yeah." she whispered, taking a sip of her water. Manon was the designated driver that night, " Would anyone care to tell me what Galathynius' boyfriend is doing, or?"

Lorcan snorted, "They're not really together M, they were just fake dating."

Manon's head snapped in Elide's direction, looking for confirmation, "Fake dating? You're joking."

Nehemiah shook her head, "I'd rather."

"Rowan really got everybody. Aelin especially," added Elide, sitting on one of the chairs against the wall.

Manon laughed, "No guys, mine wasn't a question. You're joking, period." she said. Elide looked at her with a confused grimace, "What do you mean?"

"That they're not fake dating," Manon pointed out, taking her seat next to her.

Aelin, from across the room, burst into tears, and although Elide could not hear her, she knew it must have been a desperate cry, because all the people around her turned around and looked at her worryingly. She was about to get up and go to her, but Lysandra was already escorting her out of the room.

Elide turned again towards Manon, "Yes, they are."

"No, they're not."

"Yes, they really are." Nehemiah meddled.

"Are you trying to tell me that every time we went out and Lyria wasn't there or that Sam wasn't nearby, those two were making eyes at each other for fun?" asked the white-haired girl, "Or that every holy football game we've seen in the last few weeks when Aelin ran out onto the field to hug Rowan and kissed him in front of everyone, it was just practice?" Manon puffed, irritated, pointing to the dance floor where an upset Lyria was standing motionless in front of Rowan. Rowan, who was looking around alarmed.

"I have known Rowan since we were children. We grew up together and in the last few months he has done nothing but talk about Aelin." she started, "Aelin this, Aelin that." she huffed a laugh. "Yeah, it's true. They think they're faking it, but that-" she pointed a finger back at Rowan, who was now talking to a not-little-irritated Aedion, "Well, that's not faking it." she took a sip of water, "And believe me when I tell you I haven't heard Rowan say Lyria's name half a time in the last ten days."

Fenrys approached the two boys, an equally pissed off expression on his face. Elide managed to pick up the words "Lyria" and "piece of shit" from his speech. Rowan looked like a clubbed dog desperately trying to hide his tail between his legs.

"No one looks at anyone else the way he looks at her unless they promised eternal love to each other." Manon concluded, crossing her legs. "Those two are not faking dating. They just don't know it."

Rowan ran his hand over his face and Elide almost snapped when he turned around and walked towards Lyria. He took her by the hand and pulled her off the dance floor.

Lorcan did not seem to be in a more controlled condition than she was and Elide was amazed to see such outrage on his face. After all, Rowan was his best friend, but she was happy to find out that if Rowan did something stupid he wouldn't just blindly support him.

"They should have known that fake dating never goes according to plan." Nehemiah murmured, she sighed and walking away shortly afterwards towards the bar where Fenrys and Aedion were still talking.

Lyria was nodding disoriented, but she smiled at the end when Rowan seemed to apologize and put her hand on his arm. He smiled apologetically and she stood up tiptoeing, leaving a kiss on his cheek and pushing him towards the exit.

Manon got up at that point, looking at the couple sitting next to her. "Trust me guys, he truly loves her and if I know Rowan even a little bit, we can all trust that tomorrow morning Aelin will be the happiest person in the world," she smiled like one who knows what they're talking about and walked away.

Rowan was nodding, looking more scared than anything else, and ran towards the door of the house, towards Aelin.

Perhaps Manon was right. Maybe the next day Aelin would finally be happy.


	2. My Love For You

Rowan had rushed out of the house as soon as Fenrys had told him that Aelin had run off in tears, his stomach already in turmoil. He'd gone round the front garden and the pool, checking the outhouse and every wretched corner of the huge house, but he hadn't been able to find the girl anywhere.

He could feel his heart beating in his chest at an absurd speed and he knew it wasn't because he was running or because of the alcohol he'd consumed - although it wasn't an insignificant amount. Nor was it because Lyria had just freed him from chains he didn't even know were shrinking him.

_Go for it, Rowan, it was nice while it lasted, but you're not mine anymore. And you haven't been since she came into your life, whether you realised it or not._

The words, spoken with such sincerity as to shock him, couldn't have been more true and he could hear them echoing every time he spotted a blonde mane in the crowd.

"Fuck." he cursed, stopping near the entrance to the house and running a hand through his hair. He took his phone out of the back pocket of his jeans and checked his texts. Nothing.

He dialed Aelin's number, continuing to run his eyes over the people around him, and when the sound of the voice mail went off, it made him curse again. He called twice more before realising she wasn't going to answer.

He'd fucked everything up, he knew it.

A gag rose in his throat and he shoved it back down with a disgusted grimace and resumed his search, asking around if anyone had seen a blonde girl with eyes so impossibly blue and a bright red dress. Everyone shook their heads in displeasure.

Aedion had been on the verge of killing him when he'd approached him to ask where his cousin was, and when Fenrys had also stepped up threateningly, he'd realised he'd made a big mistake. And that whatever had happened to Aelin, it was definitely his fault.

He hadn't realised that he'd kept his gaze fixed on Aelin the whole time he'd been dancing with his ex until he'd been distracted by something the girl had said to him and the next second, when he'd returned his gaze to where he knew it would be what was now his most loyal friend, Aelin had disappeared.

He'd looked for her at the bar Dorian had had set up near the stairs to the upper floors, on the dance floor, outside the windows overlooking the pool, but he hadn't seen her anywhere and had stopped with his heart in his throat. Lyria had been just as shaken to see him in that state.

Aelin had been drunk off her ass the last time he'd seen her and all he'd been able to think about in that moment was that she might be in some corner puking her guts out while her body rejected the sheer quantities of alcohol she'd ingested. He knew she couldn't handle her booze well and the idea of her feeling sick made his heart clench in his chest.

He called himself stupid, thinking about how obvious every reaction his body had had. How everything good that had happened in his life over the last few months had been closely linked to Aelin.

He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose, and someone bumped into him, causing him to stagger forward. He spun around, ready to scream in the face of whoever had pushed him, but it was Lorcan who stood before him, a hard, tense expression that Rowan had rarely seen on the other man's face.

He was pissed as hell.

"Lorcan-" he began, intending to ask to borrow his phone, but his friend raised a hand and he froze.

Elide appeared shortly after, laying a hand on her boyfriend's arm and smiled sadly at Rowan, "Do you need a ride?" she asked faintly.

Rowan opened his mouth to ask what had happened, but quickly realised that they knew. However they found out, the couple in front of him knew about the shitshow that was going down. He had started shaking his head, ready to say that he couldn't go home until he found Aelin, but he didn't have time to speak that Lorcan did it for him.

"You should sleep it off. You're so drunk you can hardly stand and you're in absolutely no condition to talk to her." he said, clenching his jaw, "I'll take you home and tomorrow, after you've cleaned the fuck up and cleared your head, you can decide what to do."

Elide glared at him, elbowing him lightly in the side, "What my grumpy boyfriend is trying to say is that we'll give you a ride home, where you'll sober up and when you're not in danger of vomiting at every word, then you can try calling Ae. You've done enough for tonight and she probably needs some time alone."

Rowan's eyes widened, remaining silent at Elide's steady voice. He had spoken to her earlier and she had been as drunk as he was. Lorcan didn't even look at him as he passed him and headed for their car, shaking his head and muttering about how incredibly daft he'd been.

Elide tried to smile at him to reassure him somehow, but he didn't feel any kind of relief.

He needed to talk to Aelin, but they were right. He was in no condition to talk to his friend- to whatever Aelin was to him at that moment. And he knew perfectly well that she hadn't been either, at least not when she'd left the house.

The car ride was exhausting and so long that Rowan wondered where they were actually taking him, and when the car stopped at yet another red light, he lifted his head up from the window, rubbing his eyes. "How do I fix this?"

Elide looked over his shoulder, "It's not about fixing things, Ro. You just have to tell the truth."

Lorcan nodded beside her, clasping his hands around the steering wheel, "Aelin may not be my favourite person and I know you had an agreement that whatever happened between you wasn't true, but I think she forgot that at some point, just as I was convinced you had forgotten it too, until tonight." he said in a harsh voice. He looked at him through the mirror, "Why were you dancing with Lyria?"

Rowan didn't know how to answer, so he didn't.

Elide sighed, placing a hand on Lorcan's thigh, and the rest of the ride passed in silence as he remembered all the times Aelin and he had been alone and she had done that exact same thing. He huffed, shaking his head. What a fool he had been.

He thanked his friends, getting out of the car and staggering to the entrance of his building and turned to wave at them again, letting them know that he had managed to open the door. He climbed the stairs with considerable difficulty and only began to hear distinctive, broken sounds when he reached the fourth flight of stairs.

The higher he climbed, the clearer the sound became and the haze of confusion that clouded his mind slowly cleared up more and more with each step. When he reached his floor, his mind fully cleared to the figure of Aelin slumped against his door, her body repeatedly shaken by the sobs of a desperate cry.

Rowan felt his lungs constrict to the point where he could no longer catch his breath. He took a step forward towards her, stopping with one hand on the railing at a safe distance, because he knew that if he got too close, nothing would stop him from clutching her to his chest and taking her into the house with him.

She looked so small on the surely frozen tiles.

"Aelin." he whispered and hoped the despair in his voice wasn't too obvious.

Her head snapped up and the sight of her face contracted into a grimace of pain almost brought him to his knees. She cried harder, bringing her hands up to cover her face, and Rowan was terrified that something else had happened in the time he had been at the party looking for her.

He'd seen her cry before, in the months they'd been so close that they'd shared more than he'd ever shared with anyone else, but never like this. Never with such... hopelessness.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, perhaps in a slightly too surly tone, because she winced. But it wasn't anger, what he was feeling, it was pure terror that the reason Aelin was in that state was all about him.

She shook her head, folding her legs beneath her and rising from the ground. She bent down to pick up her bag and when she pulled herself up again, she faltered slightly, giving away how drunk she actually was. She shook her head, bringing her hands to her hair, "Sorry- I'm sorry, I'll go now," she sobbed. She didn't look at his face. "I don't know why I came." Rowan couldn't help but feel worse when she added, "I'm leaving, sorry."

Her voice broke again on the last words as more tears flowed down her cheeks and when Aelin walked past him, there was shock on his face.

"Aelin." he called to her again, his voice so faint he struggled to hear himself. She froze in her tracks, her arm brushing against his, and lifted her head to look at him, holding her breath.

She raised her golden-blue eyes to his and Rowan swallowed, feeling himself dying inside at the gruesome sight. It was his fault. The reason for her make-up being ruined like that. The way her breathing was laboured and her body trembled from the cold. It was his fault that Aelin was there now, suffering and crying.

His eyes fell on her lips instinctively, as they had done for the last four months in which they had lied to the world. In which they had lied to themselves.

He knew exactly what he would feel if he brushed her lips with his, if he ran his thumb over that pink mouth. He had learned to know every inch of those perfect lips. He'd learned to love them as if his life depended on it.

He'd just been too stupid to realize it himself.

"Come in." he told her plainly, extending a tentative hand towards hers. The moment his fingers brushed against hers, Aelin tensed and he withdrew his hand, not wanting to frighten her.

It was as if he were dealing with a wounded animal.

And though he had learned to read every expression on Aelin's face, now he could only tell how terrified she was, not knowing if that fear was directed at him or something else.

He grimaced when she didn't answer and closed his eyes, turning his head towards the door of his flat, ready to hear her walk away, but he felt her hand tighten around his pinky finger and he turned his head towards her. She had stopped crying and seemed to be holding her breath again, just as he was doing now.

He felt a rush through his body as her fingers tightened even more around his.

He looked down at that small gesture and felt his heart explode in his chest.

He smiled weakly at her and pulled her towards the front of the house, praying to every god in existence that she didn't let go.

The first time Rowan had held her hand, Aelin had complained about how big his was, and the second time Rowan had offered her only his little finger, big enough compared to her tiny ones, so that she could cling to him holding only that single finger.

They entered the house in silence, both of them still dulled by what had just happened and the alcohol and Rowan let her follow him around the house as he turned on the lights and made sure the heating was on for the night.

The cold in his flat could be nasty.

Not that he should have warned her, Aelin had slept there so many times with him that she knew better than anyone.

He sighed, finally looking at her and wondering how they had gotten to that point.

Looking at her swollen, red eyes, her cheeks still wet from crying and her complexion so pale she looked sick, he made a decision.

He closed his eyes, leaning his back against the wall behind him, and Aelin took a step forward, almost completely adhering to his body with her own. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, as if he was exhausted. "We should sleep." he murmured, "Talk about," he moved a hand in mid-air, "whatever this is tomorrow. We're both drunk and I'm not going to-"

"You're right." she interrupted him and her voice was scratchy, still weakened from crying, "We should sleep."

Rowan slowly opened his eyes and smiled at her amidst the alcohol, the exhaustion.

Aelin tried to return the smile, but seemed to remember something suddenly and pulled away from him, letting go of his finger and moving two steps away. She averted her gaze and swallowed loudly, "I'll sleep on the couch, just let me get my pajamas and then I'll leave you alone."

Her pajamas. Yes, because Aelin had a drawer of her own in this flat. And she had a toothbrush that belonged to her in the bathroom and a bathrobe and some fucking tampons.

God, he'd been so stupid.

They were already together and he'd been the only one who hadn't been aware of it really.

Then her words caught up with him.

He furrowed his brow, "You're not sleeping on the couch."

Aelin looked at him surprised. She opened her mouth and closed it and then opened it again and Rowan wanted to tease her about how she looked like a fish, but the words she spoke blocked him.

"But Lyria..."

He gritted his teeth, "Lyria is not the woman standing in my living room right now." he said icily. Then he pulled away from the wall, bringing his hands to Aelin's hips, and she sighed at that touch. Rowan leaned over her, pressing his forehead against hers, "If the only reason you don't want to sleep in my bed is because of her, then I don't want to hear your bullshit." he whispered against her lips. "If you don't want to sleep with me because of me, because you can't be around me, then take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch, but I'm not," he trembled, "I'm not going to leave you alone. I'm not going to sleep in another room while you're here in my house if the only thing blocking you is Lyria," he concluded breathlessly, as if saying those words had worn him out even more.

He opened his eyes and his green collided with her gold.

Aelin nodded slightly, letting their lips brush together, "Alright."

Rowan kissed her softly, sighing in relief when she pressed into him, making parts of her body cling that he hadn't touched since Lyria had spoken to him again a few weeks before. When they broke away, his hand stayed on her hip until she pulled away from him to get ready for bed, and Rowan tried desperately not to stare at her as she slipped off the tight little red dress that - thinking about it now - had certainly done nothing to protect her from the freezing cold of Rifthold. She must have been freezing to death out there waiting for him.

She slipped into her pajamas quickly and when they were both under the covers, Aelin gave her back to him, letting him wrap his arms around her and hold her to his chest, cradling her so that sleep could take her easily.

***

Rowan awoke to the sound of someone throwing up in his bathroom.

And his phone buzzing incessantly on the nightstand.

He opened his eyes, grunting in pain as a twinge hit him in the head, but he reached for the phone, answering it without seeing who the sender was, "Hello?" he mumbled into the microphone.

" _Rowan_." exclaimed Lorcan in a voice too loud for his liking, " _Have you seen Aelin? Has she called you, texted you, anything, since last night?_ " the panic in his voice was palpable and Rowan snapped to his seat as a feeling of sheer terror spread in his stomach.

He looked down at the blankets beside him, unmade in a way that meant only someone else had been sleeping with him. He suddenly remembered Aelin on his doorstep, crying as if someone had just crushed her world. The way he had kissed her before embracing her in her sleep.

He couldn't have imagined that. He couldn't have-

The sound of the toilet being flushed caught his attention.

He stood up quickly and his head spun so badly he had to lean against the wall to keep from tumbling.

" _Rowan? You there?_ " asked Lorcan more urgently.

He looked out over the bathroom, catching sight of Aelin's mass of blonde hair as she leaned over the toilet.

He wanted to ask her if she was okay, but he needed to answer his friend so he could get rid of him and talk to her as soon as possible, make sure everything was all right.

"She's here."

Lorcan breathed a sigh of relief and then cursed, " _Fuck, tell her never to do anything like that again._ " then Rowan heard him telling Elide that Aelin was okay and was at his place and the string of insults aimed at the blonde in front of him that came out of the other girl's mouth made him suspect that they had been looking for her for a long time. His suspicions were confirmed almost immediately, " _Lysandra woke up this morning and found her bed empty. Couldn't reach her in any way. We've been looking for her for an hour now._ " he took a deep breath, " _I'm glad she's there with you. Have you two talked yet?_ "

Rowan didn't answer, "I'll talk to you later." and hung up, not waiting for Lorcan to bid him bye in turn.

Aelin gagged again and he grimaced, crouching down beside her on the floor and gathering her hair into a fist, "Hey baby, how are you?"

She grunted, without lifting her head from the toilet, "Like someone's pulling my guts out of my throat."

Rowan chuckled, stroking her back with a warm hand. He shifted his gaze from her to the clock on the wall, seeing that it was past nine. "How long have you been like this?"

"An hour, probably," she murmured, stopping when another gag rose in her throat. She sighed when nothing came out but spat anyway, "How do you feel?"

He smiled, yawning and rubbing a hand over his eyes, "Like someone who can handle a hangover."

She chuckled, eyeing him sideways, "Asshole." she muttered.

Rowan could finally see her face and the smile died on his lips. He knew the glint from the tears in her eyes was from the vomit, but he couldn't stop his mind when it showed him images from the night before.

"How are you?" he asked again, meaning something completely different from what he had asked only mere seconds before. And maybe he'd used a different tone, maybe he'd made a different face, because Aelin's face also transformed and became more serious.

She stared into his eyes, biting the inside of her cheek, "I am." she replied, shrugging.

Rowan inhaled sharply through his nose, "Aelin."

"Rowan." she said. She raised her eyebrows, as if to ask him to continue.

Start, he mentally corrected himself. He owed her an explanation.

The hand on the small of her back slid to the floor and she seemed to regret the lack of that contact, but he couldn't bring himself to touch her at that moment. The hand in her hair let lose as well.

He didn't look away though, as he said, "I'm sorry, about last night."

Aelin didn't react in any way, giving him a sign to continue.

"I shouldn't have even looked at her, Lyria. I had you next to me and I don't know if it was out of habit or because I thought she was the one I wanted, but I went to her and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for using you all this time without realising what I was actually doing to you," he said, forcing himself not to look away. Her eyes betrayed nothing. "I know we had an agreement and I did nothing but stick to it, as you did, but I should have realized it was becoming something else when you stopped talking about Sam, when you started calling me more often to go out alone with me." he sucked in a breath, bringing a hand to his chest, "I'm sorry for all the nights before last night and for all the times I believed it wasn't real. For making you believe it wasn't real."

Aelin made a sound like a wounded animal, " _What_ wasn't real?"

"My love for you," Rowan said, looking her straight in the eye.

She pulled herself up to sit up straighter and her jaw twitched, but he saw something shine in her gaze.

"I love you, Aelin, and I'm sorry I didn't realize it sooner," he murmured, laying a hand on her thigh. She shifted her eyes to where he was touching her, before returning them to his face. "You came into my life out of nowhere and turned it upside down and then slowly you came in here and started leaving your things behind and in the meantime you were also getting into my heart and I didn't-" he had to stop himself because the emotion threatened to become too much. Aelin smiled at him and her eyes became even shinier. "I didn't realize it until Lyria asked me who I was looking for and I asked her what she meant and she told me that she had stopped talking over a minute before, but I had been too lost looking for someone in the crowd to even realize it. Because I was too lost looking for you."

A tear slid down Aelin's cheek and her hand rested on his, but she remained silent.

"I don't know when I stopped pretending, but I know it had been a lot sooner than I can even realize, and I'm sorry if I'm a stupid idiot and it took me too long and a near alcoholic coma before I realized how much I fucking love you, but... I love you, Aelin." he whispered the last part, breathing out a laugh, as if even he couldn't believe his words.

Aelin chuckled through tears and looked around, "God, I never thought we would confess our love on the floor of your bathroom."

Rowan stiffened, becoming all serious all of a sudden, " _Our_ love?"

Aelin wrinkled her forehead, "I love you, Rowan, and if you haven't figured it out yet, you're probably dumber than I thought." she smiled, leaning towards him.

Rowan opened his mouth in surprise, but didn't have time to say anything as Aelin's mouth was on his and he moaned at the first swipe of her tongue against his, closing his eyes. And he wouldn't have even noticed it at that moment, the bad taste of that first real kiss, if Aelin hadn't pulled away from him suddenly, bringing a hand to her mouth and exclaiming, "Oh my God, our first kiss as a real couple tasted like vomit."

And her face was so disgusted that Rowan couldn't help but laugh, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him until she was sitting on his lap and he didn't care if Aelin tasted like vomit right then. He wouldn't have cared if she tasted like vomit for the rest of their lives, if it meant he could see that smile that now glowed on her face every morning when he woke up.


End file.
